Quick Review (LP): The Rolling Stones No. 2 by The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones No. 2
Decca; 1965

My Rating: B- (62/100)

Best Tracks: "Time Is On My Side", "Down Home Girl", "Down the Road Apiece"

Glimmers of greatness.

NOTES

Good cover of "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love." I can see MJ hammin’ that one up.
"Down Home Girl" – that’s a goofy song. Cross-eyed blues…
This, the band’s second official version of "Time Is On My Side", is the first truly iconic track the band released.* A masterpiece. (*At least in the UK. "Heart of Stone" was released as a single in the US just prior to this album, but it still hadn’t seen the light of day in the UK.)
A few early Jagger/Richards compositions here ("What A Shame", "Grown Up Wrong", "Off the Hook"). Interesting, but they’re just cutting their teeth on songwriting. Nothing particularly special.
"Down the Road Apiece" is a really strong early rock n’ roll style cut. Pretty vital here.
The cover of "Under the Boardwalk" is, I’ll say, quaint. The Stones don’t really wear it well, but it’s executed nicely.
And the requisite cover of "Susie Q"…
Another recording that is interesting as a relic more than anything else. Jagger and Richards were still developing their songwriting chops, so this one mostly consists of covers that sound very dated. The playing is good, and there are some interesting moments (with "Time On My Side" being their first great album moment), but for the most part, this one deserves acknowledgment only for laying the ground on the band’s future output.

ATTRIBUTES
Cohesion (4.5/5)
Concept (3/5)
Consistency (3.5/5)
Consequence (4.5/5)
Songs (4/5)